1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and a method for controlling a Bluetooth® (hereinafter “Bluetooth”) connection in a portable terminal, and in particular, to an apparatus and a method for controlling a Bluetooth connection according to a Bluetooth control message received from a remote place.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable terminals such as mobile communication terminals, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), etc, are mainly used lately. Such portable terminals are used for simple telephone calls, schedule management, etc. Portable terminals are also used to take an image with a digital camera installed therein, view a satellite broadcast, edit a document, play a game, navigate, and form a link to a peripheral device using a Bluetooth connection to be provided with various services. Thus, the utility range of the portable terminal expands gradually.
In particular, the number of Bluetooth devices with Bluetooth modules increases with the development of Bluetooth communication technology. A Bluetooth device having a Bluetooth module generally searches for a peripheral Bluetooth device to wirelessly communicate with and then selects a searched peripheral Bluetooth device. If an authentication is required for communication between the Bluetooth device and the selected peripheral Bluetooth device, the Bluetooth device performs pairing to make a permission state of the communication with the selected peripheral Bluetooth device. Thus, the Bluetooth device starts communicating with the selected peripheral Bluetooth device in the permission state. Alternatively, the Bluetooth device may pre-store information for pairing with the selected peripheral Bluetooth device, and if the selected peripheral Bluetooth device, having the pre-stored information, requests for a Bluetooth connection through pairing, the Bluetooth device will automatically connect to the selected peripheral Bluetooth device.
A door lock system using a Bluetooth connection, as shown in FIG. 1, uses a Bluetooth connection method to automatically establish a Bluetooth connection in response to a Bluetooth connection request from a Bluetooth device that has pre-stored pairing information.
FIG. 1 illustrates a door lock system using portable terminals having Bluetooth modules according to the prior art.
Referring to FIG. 1, a Bluetooth lock 112 of a house 10 and a Bluetooth lock 142 of an automobile 140 periodically broadcast Bluetooth connection requests. When portable terminals 120 and 130, which have registered the Bluetooth locks 112 and 142, receive the Bluetooth connection requests, the portable terminals 120 and 130 automatically perform pairing processes to establish Bluetooth connections with the Bluetooth locks 112 and 142. If the Bluetooth connections are normally established, the Bluetooth locks 112 and 142 are unlocked.
A portable terminal having a Bluetooth module as illustrated FIG. 1 may be used as a key in a door lock system. Thus, if the portable terminal is lost, the door lock system may be useless due to a malicious user. If the portable terminal is lost as described above, a user must directly access a registered Bluetooth lock to separately initialize automatic Bluetooth connections. Thus, a security problem may occur, due to a delayed initialization. Also, if a plurality of Bluetooth locks is registered, it would be inconvenient to initialize the plurality of Bluetooth locks.
In addition, losing the portable terminal with the Bluetooth module may cause an outflow of security information, which is stored in a Bluetooth device connected to the portable terminal using a Bluetooth connection, even in an accessible condition.
Accordingly, an apparatus and a method, for controlling a Bluetooth connection of a portable terminal in a remote place, are required.